Author
Topic: Hop stand for increased flavor/aroma (Read 10362 times)

There was an interesting, though short, discussion about this method on the NB forum over the summer, and I'm curious as to whether anyone here has experimented with it.

Basically, rather than (or in addition to ) dryhopping, you add hops at flame out and then let the wort stand hot for a period of time (I've seen 60 minutes and 80 minutes suggested) before chilling. The result is supposed to be a better hop flavor and aroma as compared to dryhopping.

I remember that thread and would love to hear about some results. I'm looking for some ways for getting more hop flavor and aroma into my amber ale. Maye I'll make a 10 gallon 'experiment' if I get the guts

Partially cooling the wort sounds interesting. That was actually my first thought when I first read this post yesterday. It must change the way the hops are isomerized. Is the effect similar to FWH? Where did you get the idea?

I just tried this with my India Red Ale back in August, though I couldn't bring myself to let it sit the whole 80 minutes - I went about a half hour. We had one of the two kegs at a party a few weeks ago.

The hop aroma is very nice - like a more refined, rounded dry hopping. The bitterness of the beer seemed higher than what was calculated, and based on my experience with the same hop schedule, so I attribute some of that to the longer steep.

I don't like not being able to get a handle on what the resultant bitterness is going to be - I know I can trial and error it, but I am 3 parts German, and that just drives the precision side of me bonkers.

What I really did not like was the fact that this batch did not drop crystal clear. My IPAs/PAs are usually a touch hazy from dryhopping, but are otherwise clear, and overall all my beers are very, very translucent. This is actually pretty murky. When I tap the other keg, perhaps I'll take a picture of the pint. I suspect that this is a result of not chilling quick enough after the boil was complete?

Obviously, this is only one data point - I would need to do additional trials to see if this is indeed the cause, but the result is not so over the top great or better than flameout+keghopping that I usually do to make it worthwhile, IMO.

Logged

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

Partially cooling the wort sounds interesting. That was actually my first thought when I first read this post yesterday. It must change the way the hops are isomerized. Is the effect similar to FWH? Where did you get the idea?

My understanding is the temp drop is to prevent isomerization(and resultant extra bitterness) and maximize hop flavor and aroma by not driving off aromatics in a boil. TimO suggested the recipe several years ago as an excellent APA to try but I didn't do it until recently. I would think this technique yields more hop flavor and aroma than FWHing. I don't have FWH data points, so someone else with experience with both techniques would have to weigh in. Cheers...

Logged

A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes." Gene Hill

Cool, thanks for the link! Sure to be another gem there. The next best thing to brewing and cooking is checking out recipes! I know I'm not the only one who enjoys sitting with cookbooks and beer recipe sources searching for the next great find! Cheers...

Logged

A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes." Gene Hill

Well this thread has gotten my creative juices flowing. I've been wanting to build a hopback for a while. I wonder what would happen if you chilled the wort to 180 or so with an immersion chiller, then ran it through a hopback to a counterflow chiller?

Well this thread has gotten my creative juices flowing. I've been wanting to build a hopback for a while. I wonder what would happen if you chilled the wort to 180 or so with an immersion chiller, then ran it through a hopback to a counterflow chiller?

i have a hopback, and don't recommend what you're doing - just run the wort through the hopback and immediately chill post hopback. trying to chill first is counterproductive - you want super hot then super cold to capture the hop goodness...

Logged

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

I remember the discussion about DMS from the other thread about this. Isn't it much of a concern--letting the wort sit for 80 minutes hot? Have any of you that have tried this noticed any negative results other than blatz's cloudy beer?